Former Chelsea and Celtic striker Chris Sutton has insisted that he does not trust Daniel Sturridge to be fit for the long term.
The England international, who has barely featured for Liverpool in the current campaign, has struggled with injuries since joining the Reds from Chelsea in January 2013.
Sturridge has clocked up just 349 minutes over six games in all competitions this season, scoring four times, but was on the bench for the Reds' 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland on Saturday.
Barring the 2013/14 campaign, the 26-year-old, who recently returned to training after a hamstring problem, has failed to string togehter a run of games since his switch to Liverpool.
And Sutton insisted that other footballers would now say that Sturridge has a heart “the size of a pea”, with the striker missing more games than he has played for Liverpool.
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“I think in football terms people would say that Daniel Sturridge has a heart as the size of a pea”, he said on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday evening.
“That’s what players would say about him. I think it’s a problem, he has missed 87 games and played 73 [at Liverpool].
“That is not good enough. They’re paying him a fortune, but I wouldn’t trust him to be fit long-term.”
Sturridge, whose present deal with Liverpool runs until 2019, has scored 45 goals in 73 games for Liverpool.
The forward missed the earlier part of the season through hip and knee injuries, but the Reds will hope his presence on the bench means he will soon start to clock up playing time again.
